{"id":490797,"date":"2026-02-19T19:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/490797\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T19:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:37:08","slug":"tegan-cruz-podiums-in-first-appearance-for-new-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/490797\/","title":{"rendered":"Tegan Cruz podiums in first appearance for new team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tegan Cruz made good in his first race since signing with ARI Factory Racing<\/a>. The Pemberton, B.C. rider is in New Zealand for the opening rounds of Crankworx World Tour. Cruz finished second in the Air DH, the opening race of Crankworx Christchurch.<\/p>\n

Cruz cruises to silver<\/p>\n

Tegan Cruz\u2019s first podium with ARI saw him finish behind Christchurch local and World Cup legend, Sam Blenkinsop. While Blenki proved unbeatable on home turf, putting three seconds into the field to take the win, Cruz proved his speed against a stacked field. With just 0.33 seconds separating second from fourth, the Canadian eeked out his silver in a high pressure race.<\/p>\n

Cruz wasn\u2019t the only Canadian near the front of the men\u2019s AirDH. Quebec racer Tristan Lemire showed he\u2019s building speed again after a couple years of setbacks from injury. Lemire finished fifth, just behind reigning two-time King of Crankworx, Ryan Gilchrist of Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Emmy<\/a>Emmy Lan during Christchurch Air DH. Photo: Clint Trahan \/ Crankworx
\nEmmy Lan starts season with speed<\/p>\n

On the women\u2019s side, Forbidden Bikes\u2019 Emmy Lan just missed a podium in her 2026 debut. The Vancouver Island racer was fourth in the Air DH at Crankworx Christchurch. The former U21 EWS champ and Canadian DH champ is running a slightly different program this year. Crankworx World Tour Lan\u2019s first stop, kicking the year off on the big bike.<\/p>\n

It was Jenna Hastings taking the win in Christchurch, though. The Kiwi started her 2026 the way she finished 2025\u2019s Crankworx campaign, with an Air DH win. The last one came in Whistler. This year\u2019s first Air DH win is on home turf.<\/p>\n

With a 4:08.46, Hastings was well clear of the field. But Sian A\u2019Hern and Czechia\u2019s Sabina\u00a0Ko\u0161\u00e1rkov\u00e1 round out the podium in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

Crankworx World Tour goes live<\/p>\n

Air DH was the first event of Crankworx Christchurch, but not the last. There\u2019s a pump track challenge up next, then two feature events that will both be broadcast\u00a0live on Crankworx\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the Redemption DH promises a more international field, reportedly including local World Cup winner Lachie Stevens-McNab and possibly Canadian Finn Iles.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, 22 February, \u014ctautahi Slopestyle finals bring a new slopestyle \u201cshootout\u201d format to Crankworx.<\/p>\n

2026 Crankworx Christchurch AirDH results<\/p>\n

Top 5 \u2013 Men
1. Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) \u2013 3:50.04
2. Tegan Cruz (CAN) \u2013 3:53.17
3. Sam Gale (NZL) \u2013 3:53.40
4. Ryan Gilchrist (AUS) \u2013 3:53.49
5. Tristan Lemire (CAN) \u2013 3:55.51<\/p>\n

Top 5 \u2013 Women\u00a0
1. Jenna Hastings (NZL) \u2013 4:08.46
2. Sian\u00a0A\u2019Hern\u00a0(AUS) \u2013 4:14.43
3. Sabina\u00a0Ko\u0161\u00e1rkov\u00e1\u00a0(CZE) \u2013 4:17.20
4. Emmy Lan (CAN) \u2013 4:21.75
5. Sacha Mills (AUS) \u2013 4:22.58<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tegan Cruz made good in his first race since signing with ARI Factory Racing. The Pemberton, B.C. rider…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[247932,247933,64,63,247934,247935,247936,784,247937,43062,117138,85,208645,247938],"class_list":{"0":"post-490797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-2026-crankworx-world-tour","9":"tag-air-dh","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-crankworx","13":"tag-crankworx-christchurch","14":"tag-crankworx-world-tour","15":"tag-cycling","16":"tag-emmy-lan","17":"tag-mtb-features","18":"tag-mtb-news","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-tegan-cruz","21":"tag-tristan-lemire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}